Chapter 28 Lucy
TWENTY-EIGHT
Lucy
“You and I are going to talk about this when we get home.”
The words have been bouncing around my head ever since last night.
I’ve successfully managed to avoid Miles.
When we got in the car to go home after I lost miserably at poker, I had a missed call from Krystal.
She’d left a voicemail, letting me know a more detailed time frame of her trip to California and when she could meet me with Alexander.
I called her back and managed to make the call last until we were home and I was safely locked in my room.
Anything to avoid talking about that kiss.
I kissed him. I can’t possibly look at him.
Somehow, kissing him is ten times worse than marrying him.
“If you’re serious about going camping, I’ll tell my mom today,” Miles says as he walks into the kitchen. I stop short as he rounds the corner. He has a hand on his wrist, trying to button the sleeve on a flannel shirt.
I take a long sip of coffee from his mug.
Miles’s eyebrows dip down, and he casually lowers his hands to his sides.
I take another loud sip, making sure he sees that I’m using the mug.
“Is this because of last night? It’s about the kiss, isn’t it?” he asks as he rests his hands on his hips.
“Is it?” I ask as I take another sip. “Or is it about the whole bears and camping thing?”
The corner of his mouth quirks up, and he lifts his hands again. This time, it’s to roll up his sleeves in a deliberate movement.
Holy forearms.
The muscles are jumping with each movement, and I can’t take my eyes off them.
“So, you’re using my mug just to get a rise out of me?”
I force a smile and nod. After last night, he definitely deserves a little teasing. I still can’t believe I leaned across the car to kiss him. Or that he kissed me back.
“It worked,” he growls as he finishes rolling up his other sleeve.
My eyes widen as I set down the coffee mug and take a step back. He lunges for me, and I turn to run, but it’s too late. My fuzzy socks slide on the floor, and Miles’s hard arms wrap around me in an instant.
He lifts me completely off the ground, and I shriek with laughter as he carries me out of the kitchen.
My back is pressed against his chest, and I can feel his chin against my head. I kick my feet in the air and try to break out of his hold.
“I don’t think so, you mug stealer.” He laughs as he carries me into the living room and tosses me onto the couch.
I land in the center of my laundry pile—the one I said I would fold last night but forgot about. I try to stand up, but he plants a large hand flat against my stomach and presses me back down, holding me there while he uses his free hand to toss my own laundry on top of me.
I’m soon covered in T-shirts and jeans and unable to catch my breath from laughing so hard.
He eventually pauses in his burying and grins down at me. Only my face is uncovered.
He reaches into the pile and grabs something while his eyes are fixed on me.
I glance at what he picked up. My lacy red thong. I try to get up, hoping he’ll drop it before he realizes what he’s holding.
“Oh no, you don’t. Using my mug, teasing me about where I keep my keys or the clothes in my bathroom…I’m onto you.” He holds his arm out, ready to drop the underwear on my face.
It’s like I’m watching in slow motion as he looks down at his hand and realizes what he’s holding.
His eyes widen, and he actually starts blushing. I expect him to throw them, but instead, he lowers them to my face with painfully slow movements.
“Now you know what happens when you use my coffee mug.” His voice comes out hoarse and gruff, and his face is close to mine as I look at him through the red lace.
I blow it off my face and glare up at him. “And now you know what happens when you joke about making me sleep with bears!”
I can’t believe I’m about to go camping with this stinker. He’s an absolute menace to society. He’s too selfish about his coffee cups and far too funny for me to go camping with.
Now, we’re going to have to pretend that we’re married. And forcing myself to be close to Miles could end with me growing too attached.
I don’t know if my heart can take falling for him. It might not recover from breaking.